XTERRA Harbison Half Marathon & 5K

Set for its 8th annual running this year near South Carolina’s capital city at the height of the summer season, Columbia’s Xterra Trail Run Harbison Half Marathon & 5K is part of a series of trail runs that take place from March through August around the state, which also includes races in the Clemson Issaqueena Forest as well as Table Rock State Park.

The July Xterra trail run takes runners through Harbison State Park, a 2,177-acre environmental educational park nestled along the Broad River, just nine miles from downtown Columbia. Runners in both the half marathon and the 5K follow out-and-back routes that start and finish inside the park, just off Lost Creek Drive.

From there, runners follow a clockwise route around the park, running along its 16 miles of trails that wind through its hardwood and pine forests, crossing through streams and winding around along the river before bringing runners back around to the finish line.

Here’s what past runners have had to say about the race, in comments from the old version of our site:

– Matthew Brian in Fort Mill, SC: “Very hot and challenging.”

– Bryan Hanna in Blythewood, SC: “Never run the race but have mountain biked them and they are rough due to roots from pine trees. Very rough!”

Race Weather & Climate

Located near the center of the state, just over 110 miles northwest of Charleston, Columbia typically sees its warmest and wettest weather of the year in July, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 58 degrees (in 1982) and as high as 109 degrees (in 1999).

On race day (July 8), the average low is 71ºF and the average high is 93ºF.